If you have just been diagnosed....

 My sister-in-law has just been diagnosed with Stage IV invasive lobular w/ bone mets in several places. She is 58 and post meno. I was surprised at the doctors treatment plan. Original biopsies in both breast revealed 2 pos. in one breast and one in the other.  No node biopsy were done.

He has postponed her bilateral mastectomy. He is starting Femaro and Zometa. He said that he would do another bone scan later and would be able check her breast for any changes. She is Her2 + and Estrogen+

How long after beginning meds is another scan done to check to see if meds are working?

I am so concerned because he is not choosing to eliminate the primary immediately. I know there have been alot of advances in the last 18 yrs( I am an 18yr  idc stage 2 survivor and had a bilateral and 6 mos chemo)..

Thanks to all of you for your help!

I was diagnosed with magullary Breast cancer 2.9cm stage two June 10th, Things moved very fast so I new something was wrong they wouldn't tell you anything until they had a definate answer. I had a right lateral done on June 25th. I will be starting my treatments here next Thursday July 24th. I will have three months treatment. 4 treatments total. They removed all the breast tissue plus 16 lymp. I am recovering fairly well I believe for only being my third week. I didn't have reconstruction as the same time of the surgery. I am considering not having it done. I am small breasted so it wouldn't be an large issue. I am more worried about going throught the treatments. To all you who have cancer and have just been diagnoed my thoughts and prayers are with you. Good luck to all Think postive and we can conquer this battle.

lostqueeny 

  Thank you sschmidt-  I have a hard time crying and you just helped me to release some more tears.  I have just been diagnosed as of tues july 14,2008- with invasive ductual carcinoma-stage 1 for now.  I'm praying to stay at this stage.  I will be having a surgery in 3 weeks to check the nodes.  Suggestion treatment for now is radiation-but wont know until after surgery-

Please pray thanks-

Sierra

Do you have any idea how long a person is in the hospital for a double masectomy?

Teresa, don't worry about the time.  Most BC's when large enough to be found by any means, are 8 to 10 years old.  So waiting is not a big deal.  Now, of course there are exceptions, but I doubt that you have any reason to worry about the time delay. 

And Pamela, if you are like me, you will beg to go home the same day.  But I do not like hospitals.  It varies all over the place, often depending on what kind of insurance you have.  But baring any complications, a day or two is usually what the gals stay.  Remember, you don't pee, poop, laugh, walk, talk or sit on your boobs.  And while no surgery is fun, this is a pretty good place to be operated on.

Hugs, Shirlann 

Hello ... I have been told that i have an invasive lobular carcinoma in the right breast.  I have had a bone scan and a ct scan today and i am due an mri scan on thursday morning before surgery on saturday morning.  I dont yet know anything about stage or grade and i am fretting because i dont know if i drank enough water before the bone and ct scans and if that will make any difference ... when do they give you all the staging and grade information?

Dear Lyn,

I was diagnosed with invasive ductal cancer a few months ago, stage 1, about 1 cm. I had a wire localization lumpectomy on 6/12, then on 7/10 clear margin biopsy and removal of sentinel lymph node. Pathology report last week showed clear margins and node was negative. Recommended treatment is radiation (6 - 8 weeks) then hormone therapy.

Why are they saying chemo at this early stage? How did they diagnose you?

I'm so sorry you had to join 'the boards', but it sounds like there are a lot of unanswered questions for you. You will find all kinds of information here and women willing to help and support you.

Rafaela

Hello everybody.  This is my first posting since I have just recieved my diagnosis:

DCIS ER+3;PR+3& HER2+3 100% positive.

The more I read the more confused I get . The earliest I could see an oncoligist is Aug 6th,   2 and half weeks away? Am I waiting to long and do I need to see a Surgeon first.  Can't seem to find a little handbook to explain things to me Lucy!!!!

If any of you wonderful gals have advice I would love to hear.

thx, robin 

I 

Bap,  Thank you so much for sharing.  How long in total did the treatment last?  Did you spend much time in the hospital or did they do it mostly outpatient?  This is still so new to me.  Thank you again!!   Lyn

Hello all,

I  was recently diagnosed (7/8/08) with poorly differentiated ductal carcinoma with lymph node involvement.  I was also told that I do not have estrogen or progesterone receptors.  In fact all the professionals can say is that I have a nasty and aggressive cancer.  I'm to begin chemotherapy next week as long as I can stay healty.  I have already had the lump removed from my breast and clear margins.  It was recommended that I begin chemo and have the lump removed from my armpit at a later date (after 4 chemo sessions).  My port has been placed and actually hurt more than the breast surgery.  My question to everyone is that I have a 8mth old, 4yr old and 8yr old that are very worried about mommy.  Any suggestions on how to comfort my children during all this uncertainity?  Are you ever able to look at your children again without tearing up and wondering if you will get to see them grow up? 

Hi everyone,

I am so happy to have found this site. 

My wife was just diagnosed last week with what appears to be  stage II cancer.  The lump is about 2.5cm and so far we have not gotten the results back from the lymph node biopsy. We are meeting the oncologist for the first time on Friday, but the other doctor has already said the plan of action is going to be to do chemo first to make sure the cancer is responsive and to hopefully shrink the thing down so as to possibly save her breast.

I want to be a comfort to my wife and I think by learning all I can is the best course of action.  She is 34 and we have a 2 year old and 5 year old, so this will be a bumpy ride.  Of course we are shaken and scared, but the more we talk to survivors and find sites such as this, the better we are starting to feel about things.

Dear all,

I'm new to this site. As everyone else here I need your advices, help and support and to start with I would like to thank everyone for even reading my post. I'm a Bulgarian residing currently in Brussels, Belgium so please excuse my English. I was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago. I found a lump in my breast and some in my lymph nodes the last month of my pregnancy. I had a Ceaser section on June 30 and delivered a beautiful baby boy. After that I've started the usual examinations: X-ray, ct scan, bone scan, echografy, blood sample etc. I have been told that I'm HER2 positive and hormone negative. I have been offered two options of treatment and I need to get some information about option number 2 as I have never heard of such kind of treatment. So, the two options I've been offered are as follows:

1) start with chemotherapy, then surgery, then radiotherapy and then therapy with Herceptin for one year

2) strat with Herceptin (oral medicine), then surgery, then radiotherapy and then Herceptin again for one year

Usually it is started with chemotherapy both in Bulgaria and in Brussels, but here in Brussels the oncologist offered also the second option and we have to decide untill tomorrow which one to go for. I know that in the US this medicine (Herceptin) is more known so please can anyone help me gather more information in order to choose the best treatment for me. I will appreciate everything someone can tell me in this matter.

Thank you once again!

I have just been diagnosed as of 7/23 and I am in total pain because of my diagnosis.  This caught me totally off guard even with the routine mammogram.  I am having a lumpectomy on Monday and totally looking to have a mastectomy.  I don't know what to do, I can't stop crying, I don't know what to think and I don't know what to expect.  I want a mastectomy on both breasts now.  I am totally numb from this information and want to get past this so that I can get the appropriate treatment going to help me beat this and the the survivor.

I was just diagnosed on July 9th.  It SUCKS!  You just have to try and stay calm and think positive.  Yes, when I found out my knees went out.  Nobody expects to be told this.  Thinking Positive is the key here.

Dear Kana,

 I am in Switzerland and diagnoised July 14 with IDC, positive Her2.  My options given were surgery, radiation, herceptin and chemotherapy or surgery radiation and just herceptin.  Nothing was offered prior to the surgery.  I do not have my surgery till the 15th of August... one month seems long to wait.   Also, the doctors told me here in Switzerland they do not believe in the scans of other areas of the body to look for additional issues as they think the amount of radiation is worse and more cancer causing than what would be found.  I dont know that I agree with that theory, afterall are we no exposed to radiation from the radiation treatments?   Kana, keep in touch, it is so scary without anyone to talk to who is going through the same thing.   

Lyn